Pop the cap, save Social Security
It’s not my good looks that puts me in this lucky zone, but
one particular public asset that has long been serving the common good for
decades, lifting millions of workaday Americans to some decent level of shared
prosperity: Social Security.
Plutocratic elites and their political puppets constantly
wail that Social Security is a socialist scam, a wasteful giveaway to old
people. But regular folks know that’s hokum, since nearly all of us pay into
the plan every month of our working lives. In short, it’s our money!
Moreover, each of our Social Security accounts steadily
build up. The most valuable financial asset for 9 out of 10 American families,
is not their houses or Aunt Tillie’s will — it’s their Social Security
holdings. Even for rock-solid, middle-class families, Social Security provides
for about a third of their total lifetime wealth.
When right-wingers screech that “fiscal prudence” demands
they slash the program’s benefits, that’s bank-robber code for looting wealth
you’ve banked for years in this people’s retirement system. There is absolutely
no excuse for such thievery.
Especially since an honest, fair, and simple adjustment
would keep the program fully funded in perpetuity. If billionaires and other
extremely wealthy Americans paid Social Security taxes at the same rate the
rest of us do, a study found, we wouldn’t just be able to continue the program.
We’d be able to increase the benefits.
Rather than letting gazillionaires like Elon Musk put practically none of their massive incomes into this egalitarian effort to provide a decent retirement for all, make them pay Social Security taxes exactly like regular workers do.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio
commentator, writer, and public speaker. This op-ed was distributed by
OtherWords.org.
